Started in November 2010, daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 4050 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's staff, current/former PA Secretaries of Education, superintendents, school solicitors, principals, charter school leaders, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders, business leaders, faith-based organizations, labor organizations, education professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory agencies, professional associations and education advocacy organizations via emails, website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
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Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for Dec. 14, 2020
Some Philly-area
public schools are planning to test students, staff for COVID-19
Major Google Outage
Knocks Out YouTube, Gmail, Classroom for About an Hour
Google
Classroom, YouTube, Gmail and other products were down worldwide
Published 1
hour ago • Updated 25 mins ago
What to Know
- A massive global outage struck a broad
range of Google products and services just after 6:30 a.m. ET Monday
- Google Classroom, YouTube, Gmail and
other services were almost completely inaccessible, though many products
started coming back online about an hour later
- The cause of the outage was not
immediately clear, though some products continued working for signed-out
users in Incognito Mode
A
significant outage struck Google's platforms globally Monday morning, taking
down YouTube, Gmail and a host of other popular services for about an hour. Users
encountered error messages any time they tried to access the affected services,
which also included productivity tools like Docs and Sheets, smart home
services like Nest and educational tools like Google Classroom. DownDetector
showed a massive spike in outages on all major Google products starting just
after 6:30 a.m. ET. Just over an hour later, users started reporting that
services were loading normally again.
Some Philly-area public schools are planning to test students, staff for
COVID-19
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna, Posted: December 11, 2020
As
coronavirus cases continue to surge, plans are underway to begin testing
students and staff at some area public schools — efforts school leaders hope
will make people feel safe in classrooms and guard against potential spread of
the virus. A program spearheaded by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia that
would introduce testing in school districts is in the works. Among the first to
pilot it would be the Lower Merion and North Penn school districts in
Montgomery County; a spokesperson for the CHOP PolicyLab said the hospital
system is in discussions about testing “in Philadelphia and all of the collar
counties” in anticipation of expanding the program throughout the region. And
Mastery Schools, a network of charter schools in Philadelphia and Camden
currently operating virtually, is prepared to offer free weekly testing to its
staff and 14,000 students upon reopening for in-person instruction in the new
year. “We feel the urgent need to serve our families and our students safely,
and to make sure they feel comfortable back in the school building,” said
Mastery CEO Scott Gordon, whose charter network has partnered with the Broad
Institute, a research center in Cambridge, Mass., to conduct the testing.
‘The cutting edge of
safety’: Philly area schools plan widespread coronavirus testing
WHYY By Miles Bryan December 11, 2020
School
administrators across the Philadelphia area are moving forward with plans to
provide coronavirus testing to students and staff — a step seen by many as
essential for in-person learning to proceed safely. The planning comes as a
surge of coronavirus cases have compelled the School District of Philadelphia
to delay
bringing some students back to the
classroom, and forced other schools in the region to suspend in-person
learning. Mastery Charter — which runs 26 schools with more than 14,000
students in Philadelphia and Camden — announced Thursday that it would provide
free weekly coronavirus tests to all students and staff who want them, whenever
in-person education resumes. “We really recognized it was the cutting edge of
safety, and something that was incredibly important to ensuring the health and
safety of our kids,” said Laura Clancy, a senior adviser with Mastery. The
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia also confirmed Thursday it was in
discussions with local government and school districts in the region to pilot a
program to administer COVID-19 tests in schools. A CHOP spokesperson declined
to offer more detail, but Chester and Delaware counties, as well as two Montgomery
County school districts, Lower Merion and North Penn, confirmed they would be
participating. A spokesperson for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health
said they are “having some conversations about how it could be organized in
Philly,” but said nothing was formalized.
Pa. officials still
leave covid restrictions up to school districts
Trib Live by
TEGHAN SIMONTON | Friday, December 11,
2020 1:45 p.m.
A day after
Gov. Tom Wolf announced a suspension of all school sports and extracurricular
activities, Pennsylvania’s Acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega and Deputy
Secretary Matt Stem doubled down on the state’s approach of leaving the
ultimate reopening decisions up to individual school districts. “We recognize
there is no one-size-fits-all policy for the commonwealth,” Ortega said.
“That’s why our efforts to mitigate the transmission of covid-19 have often
been segmented. They’ve been targeted at times, and they’ve been adjusted to
account for emerging research and findings as these continue to come our way.” “(Due
to) the recent resurgence that we’ve seen throughout the past couple of months,
we’ve once again had to adjust, pivot and ensure that we can continue to put
recommendations and efforts out there that allow our schools to remain safe for
learning,” he added. Ortega reiterated that Wolf’s most recent order is only temporary – in place starting
Saturday until 8 a.m. Jan. 4 – in order to curb “unprecedented levels” of
transmission. Still, he noted that the Department of Health and governor’s
office always have discretion for more aggressive mitigation strategies.
Already facing a
shortage, COVID causes added stress to the substitute teacher pool
Pottstown
Mercury By David Mekeel dmekeel@readingeagle.com @dmekeel on Twitter
Denise
Magalotti has been pretty busy lately. The former third-grade teacher in the
Perkiomen Valley School District, who left the classroom 20 years ago when her
first child was born, has worked as a substitute teacher for the past four
years. "When my children were in high school, they wanted me to come
back," she explained. "They said, 'Mom, you'd be a fun sub.' " It
was an easy sale for Magalotti. She had never lost her passion for working with
children, and was already highly involved at her kids' school as a volunteer
for all sorts of things. So, she gave it a shot.
Magalotti
said she likes the variety of being a substitute. She would work two or so days
a week, getting a chance to learn new things alongside her students. This year,
her plate has filled a bit. Magalotti is one of five substitutes hired full
time to fill in at Wilson High School. The district also has four building
substitutes at each of its middle schools and one or two at each elementary
school. The building substitutes work four days a week at the middle and high
schools — those buildings are fully virtual on Wednesdays — and daily at
the elementary schools, getting assigned to whichever classroom needs
attending. "There is work for us every single day," Magalotti said.
"They keep us busy."
CHOP Researchers Find
Elevated Biomarker Related to Blood Vessel Damage in All Children with
SARS-CoV-2 Regardless of Disease Severity
Published
on Dec 08, 2020 in CHOP News
Researchers
at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have found elevated levels of a
biomarker related to blood vessel damage in children with SARS-CoV-2 infection,
even if the children had minimal or no symptoms of COVID-19. They also found
that a high proportion of children with SARS-CoV-2 infection met clinical and
diagnostic criteria for thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). TMA is a syndrome
that involves clotting in the small blood vessels and has been identified as a
potential cause for severe manifestations of COVID-19 in adults. Co-senior
authors of the study, Dr. David Teachey (R) and Dr. Edward Behrens (L)The
findings were published today in Blood Advances. “We do not yet
know the clinical implications of this elevated biomarker in children with
COVID-19 and no symptoms or minimal symptoms,” said co-senior author David T. Teachey, MD, an attending physician, Co-Leader of
the Immune
Dysregulation Frontier Program, and Director of Clinical Research at
the Center for Childhood Cancer Research at CHOP. “We should continue testing
for and monitoring children with SARS-CoV-2 so that we can better understand
how the virus affects them in both the short and long term.”
Survey: Parents
weigh-in on education, exposure risk during the pandemic | The Numbers Racket
PA Capital
Star By Cassie
Miller December 14, 2020
The way in
which children attend school and receive instruction has changed dramatically
since the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic in the spring. While
schools have resumed instruction either in-person, remotely or through a hybrid
of the two, many parents are finding themselves torn between worrying about the
quality of their kids’ education and the risk of exposing them to COVID-19, a
survey by the Pew
Research Center found.
Pensions for
teachers: Why taxpayers, not educators, will pay more for weak investment
returns
Inquirer Joseph N. DiStefano | @PhillyJoeD | JoeD@inquirer.com Posted: December 14, 2020
For every
dollar paid in salaries to Pennsylvania’s 250,000 public school teachers and
school staff, the state treasury and local districts pay another 35 cents into the educators’ $60 billion pension fund. That’s a bigger “employer contribution” to
retirement than your boss probably sets aside for you. The taxpayer surcharge into what is called
the PSERS fund used to be zero. At one time, the pension fund was financed
mostly by investment profits. But
taxpayer help has been rising annually and eating bigger holes in state and
school budgets for nearly 20 years now. This year, taxpayers will pour $5
billion into the pension plan. Putting a happy face on it, Brian Carl, the
system’s chief financial officer, told trustees earlier this month that the
coming taxpayer bump of $200 million was the second-lowest in the past 10 years
(last year’s was less). But trustee Eric DiTullio, elected to the panel by the
school boards that must find the money for these increases, warned the pattern
of ever-increasing taxpayer assistance would put “extreme stress on the system”
unless PSERS squeezes more profit out of its investments. Now, $60 billion may
sound like a lot. But PSERS’ liabilities for future pensions total over $100
billion, leaving a $40 billion-plus long-term hole. That’s why it costs more
each year.
https://www.inquirer.com/columnists/psers-pensions-teachers-tax-20201214.html
Educators and
parents: This school year will be a setback for children's education
Bucks County
Courier Times by Kim Strong York Daily Record December 14, 2020
Stacey
Whomsley couldn't watch her son struggle any longer, so she pulled him out of
public school. It was a decision made by a woman who feels the weight of the
global coronavirus pandemic, both at work and at home. Whomsley is the
mother of two boys, 8 and 10, but she's also a project manager at Pfizer, the
first pharmaceutical company to roll out its vaccine for COVID-19.
"I work through the impossible situation and find the possible every day.
If the school districts are going to be impotent, I’m going to find a
way," she said. So, she's fighting. She put her sons in private
school, filed paperwork to start a charter school for other children in her
school district, and she may run for school board. What she's seeing in
her school district near Philadelphia is playing out across the state of
Pennsylvania. Administrators and teachers are maneuvering through
pandemic-related state regulations and the evolving models of instruction
— in-person, remote or a hybrid of both.
PHLConnectED is
offering free internet to more Philadelphia students and their households
WHYY by Tom MacDonald December 14, 2020
The City of
Philadelphia is expanding eligibility for free internet to student households
in need. The program is known as PHLConnectED, and all this week more efforts
will be announced to bridge the digital divide. Mark Wheeler, Philadelphia’s
chief information officer, said the expansion will include all families with
students in school who meet the new eligibility criteria. Specifically, city
officials said, the new criteria include those who participate in public
benefit programs with income qualifications, have students designated as English
learners, and students who receive special education services. If they qualify,
“any family, even if they currently have an internet connection of some kind,
can enter our program,” Wheeler said. He noted that the aim is to bring service
to families that either did not have internet at home or had to rely on mobile
hotspots from their cellphones, which may not be entirely adequate or suitable
for telelearning.
Students at
Kensington CAPA might stage ‘logout’ protest, principal says
Chalkbeat
Philly By Johann Calhoun Dec 11, 2020, 9:16pm EST
Students at
Kensington Creative and Performing Arts High School have argued in recent weeks
that their schedule requires too much screen time. Now they might protest by
refusing to log in to virtual classes, the school principal wrote in a letter
to families Friday. In her letter, Principal Patricia M. McDermott-Fair stated
the school had “received communication” that some students and staff might
stage a “logout” protest on Monday. “I understand that frustrations might be
heightened because of the very unusual circumstances that we’re all living in
these days,” McDermott wrote. Students who don’t log in to class on Monday will
receive an unexcused absence, she said. In a separate letter sent to Kensington
CAPA staff, McDermott-Fair said she expected staff members to follow their
schedule when school resumes on Monday.
Student reps don’t
want a vote on Philadelphia’s school board
Chalkbeat
Philly By Johann Calhoun Dec 11, 2020, 5:01pm EST
For weeks,
student leaders have called for their representatives on Philadelphia’s school
board to have the right to vote on policies affecting them. But on Thursday,
the student reps made it clear they don’t want to be full voting members of the
board. The two student representatives, Keylisha Diaz, a junior at Philadelphia
Military Academy, and Toluwanimi Olaleye, a junior at George Washington Carver
High School of Engineering and Science, said they would prefer to focus on
their goal of getting resources for mental health services for students during
the pandemic. “When Tolu and I stepped into this role we came with very
specific focuses and goals to highlight the importance of student support
around mental health services and trauma,”Diaz said. Diaz said virtual learning
has been an adjustment for students, which has created mental health challenges
for some. Some students involved in the push to get voting rights for the
board’s student representatives were disappointed by the current reps’ stance.
The list:
Pittsburgh-area school districts extend remote learning as COVID-19 cases surge
PITTSBURGH
POST-GAZETTE DEC 13, 2020 5:48 PM
This list
was updated at 5:47 p.m. on Dec. 13, 2020.
An
increasing number of schools and districts in southwestern Pennsylvania are
transitioning to remote instruction as the Pittsburgh region continues to experience a spike in COVID-19 cases.
The
districts said they plan to monitor conditions in Allegheny County and adjust
their instruction schedules accordingly. Here are the districts that have
announced changes (in alphabetical order):
Which Centre County
schools are operating remotely due to COVID-19? Here’s a running list
Centre Daily
Times BY
MARLEY PARISH DECEMBER 11, 2020 10:32 AM
Since
reopening in August, Centre County school districts have been forced to make
adjustments to instructional plans as community COVID-19 cases continue to rise
and statewide mitigation efforts aim to slow virus transmission. The
Centre Daily Times is keeping a running list of school closures and planned
reopenings. Because area schools are not required to publicly announce
confirmed cases or building closures, this list may not be comprehensive but
will be updated weekly with any changes or updates to instructional plans. If a
school closure is not listed, or to provide more information, please email
cdtnewstips@centredaily.com.
https://www.centredaily.com/news/rebuild/article247509800.html#storylink=mainstage_lead
Erie County schools
roundup: Which are open, which are remote-only
Valerie
Myers Erie Times-News December 11, 2020
As COVID-19
cases in Erie County continue to increase, so does the number of local schools
switching to remote-only learning as a result. Here's a look at which schools
are closed for in-person instruction and which are open, based on information
available Friday afternoon:
Columbia suspends
in-person instruction at its secondary campus through holiday break due to
COVID-19
Lancaster
Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer Dec 11, 2020
Columbia
Borough School District is suspending in-person instruction at its secondary
campus through the holiday break due to a spike in COVID-19 cases at the high
school. "The CBSD Public Health Team met today, and the number of student
cases at Columbia High School has reached 7 cases today," a message posted
Friday afternoon on the district's website states. "According to the *NEW*
guidance from the PA Department of Health and Education, we have to shift the
learning at the high school to remote starting December 14th and extending
through the holiday break." The
shift includes grades seven through 12, as the middle school is attached to the
high school. Students are expected to return Jan. 4, 2021.
Here’s how to watch
the Electoral College cast Pa’s official vote for president, vice president
Penn Live By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated 5:30 AM; Today 5:30 AM
Twenty
electors will convene on Monday in the Capitol Complex to exercise the power
granted them by the U.S. Constitution to cast Pennsylvania’s official vote for
president and vice president.
There is
little suspense about who is expected to emerge as the winner. While
Pennsylvania has no law requiring electors to vote for the top vote-getter of
the popular vote, keep in mind all 20 electors were selected by President-elect
Joe Biden who won the state’s popular vote by more than 80,000 over President
Donald Trump. Given the unrelenting battle that President Donald Trump and his
loyalists waged before, during and after the election in an effort to capture a
second term, some might want to watch just in case there is a last-minute
surprise. The event will be live-streamed in its entirety. It begins at noon
and can be viewed at https://www.governor.pa.gov/live/ or https://www.facebook.com/PADepartmentofState. The purpose of the gathering is for
electors to cast and sign their ballots for president and vice president. Their
ballots are then certified and transmitted to Congress to be read into the
official record by Vice President Mike Pence during a joint session on Jan. 6.
We need a Marshall
Plan for our schools. And we need it now.
Washington Post
Opinion by Richard Carranza, Austin Beutner and Janice
Jackson Dec. 13, 2020 at 4:35 p.m. EST
Richard
Carranza, Austin Beutner and Janice Jackson are superintendents of the nation’s
three largest school districts, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago,
respectively.
President-elect
Joe Biden has described the crisis in public schools caused by the pandemic as
a “national emergency.” As the
superintendents of the nation’s three largest public school districts — New
York, Los Angeles and Chicago — every day we grapple with the challenges that
worry not just the president-elect but also the students and families we serve.
Our schools, like thousands more across the nation, need help from the federal
government, and we need it now. The challenges school communities face aren’t
for lack of effort by principals, teachers, staff, parents and students. Among
our three districts, more than 2 million students and hundreds of thousands of
educators have worked to transform teaching and learning from the inside out.
We’ve seen teachers tackle long division from their kitchens and students
debate the Constitution in Spanish from their living rooms. But the fact is that for many — if not most —
children, online and even hybrid education pales in comparison to what’s
possible in a classroom led by a great teacher. Too many children are falling
behind, threatening not just their individual futures but also America’s global
competitiveness.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/13/we-need-marshall-plan-our-schools-we-need-it-now/
Supreme Court denies
effort to block election results in 4 key states that sealed Trump's fate
Richard
Wolf USA Today December 11, 2020
WASHINGTON –
The Supreme Court refused Friday to let Texas challenge the election results in four battleground states
critical to President Donald Trump's defeat at the polls last
month, likely sealing his political fate. "Texas has not
demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another
state conducts its elections," the court said in a brief order. It
dismissed all other related claims as moot. The justices' action clears the way for electors to convene in 50 states and the District of
Columbia Monday and all but confirm that President-elect Joe Biden will be the nation's 46th president. Texas had made, and Trump had endorsed, an
11th-hour effort to have the nation's highest court block Georgia,
Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin from casting their electoral votes for
Biden Monday. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claimed the four states used the
coronavirus pandemic as a pretext to change election rules and
greatly expand mail voting in violation of the Constitution. Within days,
the last-ditch challenge had erupted into a war involving nearly
every state in the nation. The four battleground states fired back,
with Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro labeling the effort to negate millions
of citizens' ballots a "seditious abuse of the judicial process."
Endangered-species
decision expected on beloved butterfly
Post Gazette
by JOHN FLESHER AND ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press DEC 14, 2020 3:10 AM
Trump
administration officials are expected to say this week whether the monarch
butterfly, a colorful and familiar backyard visitor now caught in a global
extinction crisis, should receive federal designation as a threatened species. Stepped-up
use of farm herbicides, climate change and destruction of milkweed plants on
which they depend have caused a massive decline of the orange-and-black
butterflies, which long have flitted over meadows, gardens and wetlands across
the U.S. The drop-off that started in the mid-1990s has spurred a preservation
campaign involving schoolchildren, homeowners and landowners, conservation
groups, governments and businesses. Some contend those efforts are enough to
save the monarch without federal regulation. But environmental groups say
protection under the Endangered Species Act is essential — particularly for
populations in the West, where last year fewer than 30,000 remained of the
millions that spent winters in California’s coastal groves during the 1980s.
Adopt the 2020 PSBA resolution
for charter school funding reform
In this
legislative session, PSBA has been leading the charge with the Senate, House of
Representatives and the Governor’s Administration to push for positive charter
reform. We’re now asking you to join the campaign: Adopt the resolution: We’re
asking all school boards to adopt the 2020 resolution for charter school
funding reform at your next board meeting and submit it to your legislators and
to PSBA.
Resolution for charter funding reform (pdf)
Link
to submit your adopted resolution to PSBA
335 PA school boards have
adopted charter reform resolutions
Charter school funding reform continues to be
a concern as over 330 school boards across the state have adopted a resolution
calling for legislators to enact significant reforms to the Charter School Law
to provide funding relief and ensure all schools are held to the same quality
and ethics standards. Now more than ever, there is a growing momentum from
school officials across the state to call for charter school funding reform.
Legislators are hearing loud and clear that school districts need relief from
the unfair funding system that results in school districts overpaying millions
of dollars to charter schools.
https://www.psba.org/2020/03/adopted-charter-reform-resolutions/
Know Your Facts on Funding and Charter Performance. Then
Call for Charter Change!
PSBA Charter Change Website:
https://www.pacharterchange.org/
The Network for Public Education Action Conference has
been rescheduled to April 24-25, 2021 at the Philadelphia Doubletree Hotel
Any comments contained herein are my comments, alone, and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of any other person or organization that I may
be affiliated with.
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